Miletich, the youngest of five children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, to second generation Croatian immigrant parents.[3][4] Two of his brothers are deceased. Miletich started wrestling at the age of five, continuing at Bettendorf High School.[4] Miletich also played high school football in Bettendorf Bulldogs and was an All-State nose guard in his senior year.[5] Miletich shared the Bettendorf High School wrestling room with future MMA champion Mark Kerr. He said he wanted to be a world champion in something and wrestling was something he was good at. Although Miletich originally planned to pursue football after graduating high school, he eventually chose to wrestle in junior college.[5] When his mother developed heart problems, he left school to care for her. Miletich has stated in past interviews that he actually began fighting to help pay her bills.[6][7]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Miletich started his MMA training at 26.[5] Before this, Miletich trained at Tarpein's Dojo in, Davenport, IA[8] with Grand Master Nick Tarpein, where he learned much of what he knows about karate, and was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the very first time.[5] With Miletich's wrestling background, Jiu-Jitsu came naturally to him. When Miletich coupled BJJ with his strong foundation in boxing/karate, he realized where his fighting career should go; MMA. After learning the foundations of BJJ in Tarpein's Dojo, Miletich decided to branch out and learn BJJ full-time. A friend from Chicago got him into a Renzo Gracie seminar.
After training in jiu-jitsu for a year, the same friend then got him into the Battle of the Masters, an MMA tournament held in Chicago in 1995.[5] Miletich continued fighting at smaller events and enjoyed success. He was undefeated through 15 fights before losing to Matt Hume.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Three fights later Miletich fought in UFC 16 and won the first UFC Welterweight tournament.
Welterweight champion
At UFC 17.5: Ultimate Brazil, Miletich defeated Mikey Burnett to become the first UFC Welterweight Champion.
In his fifth title defense at UFC 31 he suffered his first UFC loss as he lost the championship to Carlos Newton by submission. According to Miletich, he had a rematch clause in his contract but it was bypassed by the organization as Miletich's camp already had multiple high-ranked fighters in the welterweight division.[9]
After the fight with Carter, Miletich moved up to the Middleweight division. This was also partly due to encouragement by UFC management and because his teammate, Matt Hughes, defeated Carlos Newton to win the UFC Welterweight Championship.[9] Miletich returned to fight at his new weight at UFC 36, but quickly lost to Matt Lindland. Miletich decided to take some time away from professional fighting and recover from numerous chronic injuries. Miletich was scheduled to fight Frank Trigg at WFA 3 but pulled out due to injury. He returned in September 2006 to fight Renzo Gracie in an IFL superfight, and submitted to a guillotine choke in the first round. Miletich spoke briefly after the fight about re-aggravating his old neck injury before the Gracie fight. Miletich's last fight was in December 2008 where he scored a second-round KO over Thomas Denny that was televised on the HDNet network.
Over a decade since his last mixed martial arts bout, Miletich was originally scheduled to face Michael Nunn in a kickboxing match on April 18, 2020. However, the bout was rescheduled to July 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Miletich lost to Nunn via split decision.[11]
Return
After a near fifteen year hiatus, Miletich returned to face rival Mike Jackson on October 14, 2023 at Caged Aggression 36.[12] Despite finding initial success against his younger foe, Miletich succumbed to fatigue, and lost via technical knockout after his corner stopped the fight before the start of the third round.[13]
For over 15 years[as of?] Miletich has trained local, state, and federal law-enforcement officers and military groups from all service branches, including special-operations groups attached to those branches. He has also written and designed defensive tactics and combatives courses for other combatives companies.[15]
Miletich is also the co-founder of Fire Horse combatives which trains LEO and military personnel.[15]
Miletich was the primary subject matter of L. Jon Wertheim's "Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC", which detailed Miletich's biography and his fighting camp (Miletich Fighting Systems).
Commentary
Miletich speaking at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.
Miletich began providing color commentary for Strikeforce on April 11, 2009, for its debut on Showtime and did so regularly until that promotion's demise in 2012.
Miletich was color commentary for ESPN's MMA Live and Legacy Fighting Alliance on UFC Fight Pass. On January 12, 2021 Pat Miletich was fired from his commentary position at Legacy Fighting Alliance for being present in Washington D.C. at the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, although he had no involvement.[16]
Miletich was arrested on June 29, 2020, in Moline, Illinois and was charged with DUI. This was Miletich's second DUI arrest, his first coming in September 2018, a charge to which he pleaded guilty in March 2019.[20]
